Collection: Historical Fiction

Several years have passed since the incidents surrounding the Coin of the Sun. Having received a letter from Holo, Norah the former shepherdess and Eve the merchant woman travel north--and on the way, they end up in the same wagon as Diana the alchemist! Were Lawrence and Holo able to find happiness for themselves? In addition to an epilogue covering the days immediately after the events of Volume 16, this final book in the Spice and Wolf series includes three new short stories!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns to the Cynsters' next generation to bring you a thrilling tale of love, intrigue, and fabulous horses.

A notorious rakehell with a stable of rare Thoroughbreds and a lady on a quest to locate such horses must negotiate personal minefields to forge a greatly desired alliance-one someone is prepared to murder to prevent. Prudence Cynster has turned her back on husband hunting in favor of horse hunting. As the head of the breeding program underpinning the success of the Cynster racing stables, she's on a quest to acquire the necessary horses to refresh the stable's breeding stock. On his estranged father's death, Deaglan Fitzgerald, now Earl of Glengarah, left London and the hedonistic life of a wealthy, wellborn rake and returned to Glengarah Castle determined to rectify the harm caused by his father's neglect. Driven by guilt that he hadn't been there to protect his people during the Great Famine, Deaglan holds firm against the lure of his father's extensive collection of horses and, leaving the stable to the care of his brother, Felix, devotes himself to returning the estate to prosperity. Deaglan had fallen out with his father and been exiled from Glengarah over his drive to have the horses pay their way. Knowing Deaglan's wishes and that restoration of the estate is almost complete, Felix writes to the premier Thoroughbred breeding program in the British Isles to test their interest in the Glengarah horses. On receiving a letter describing exactly the type of horses she's seeking, Pru overrides her family's reluctance and sets out for Ireland's west coast to visit the now-reclusive wicked Earl of Glengarah. Yet her only interest is in his horses, which she cannot wait to see. When Felix tells Deaglan that a P. H. Cynster is about to arrive to assess the horses with a view to a breeding arrangement, Deaglan can only be grateful. But then P. H. Cynster turns out to be a lady, one utterly unlike any other he's ever met. Yet they are who they are, and both understand their world. They battle their instincts and attempt to keep their interactions businesslike, but the sparks are incandescent and inevitably ignite a sexual blaze that consumes them both-and opens their eyes. But before they can find their way to their now-desired goal, first one accident, then another distracts them. Someone, it seems, doesn't want them to strike a deal. Who? Why? They need to find out before whoever it is resorts to the ultimate sanction. A historical romance with neo-Gothic overtones, set in the west of Ireland.

A Cynster Next Generation novel-a full-length historical romance of 125,000 words.

Praise for the works of Stephanie Laurens

"Stephanie Laurens' heroines are marvelous tributes to Georgette Heyer: feisty and strong." Cathy Kelly

"Stephanie Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters." Historical Romance Reviews.

"Stephanie Laurens plays into readers' fantasies like a master and claims their hearts time and again." Romantic Times Magazine

Based on true events, this story traces one boy's journey from France to America in 1660 as he finds the courage to save himself and those he loves.

Etienne Gayneau doesn't understand why the Catholics and Protestants in France can't get along, only that it means he's not allowed to see his cousin and best friend, Nicolas, and why he'll never be a musketeer. But when a bounty is placed on his father's head for being a heretic, he must choose to flee with his family, or to run away and hide out with his Catholic cousin.

Etienne must give up everything he has ever known as he faces many dangers on his journey. Along the way, Etienne will befriend a beautiful Dutch girl with a dangerous father, confront his guilt over the death of his brother, and face off against injury, illness, and death. Will Etienne choose to fulfill his family's expectations, or will he plot the course for his own destiny?

In Alexa's Shoes - a dramatic, uplifting true story of a young girl's struggle to overcome great odds to survive through WWII.

In the autumn of 1940, thirteen-year-old Alexa's happy life is ripped from her as she, her mother, and many of the locals are rounded up by the Nazis in Poland. Loaded onto cattle trucks, they are transported to an unknown destination. Terror and uncertainty become the new normal. Life is a continuous nightmare as she is selected by an SS officer's wife, destined to become little more than their slave.

Separated from everyone she loves Alexa relies on her Christian faith, inner strength and courage, to endure through her long nightmare. Her story takes her on a treacherous journey across war-ravaged Europe in search of her family and the life she once knew. Despite living through unimaginable hardships and life-threatening danger, Alexa feels that someone, or something, seems to be looking out for her. Years later, she finds out that not all was as it seemed, as hidden secrets from this dark period in history are revealed to her.

In Alexa's Shoes is a historical novel that beckons the reader to follow in the footsteps of a real-life individual who walks by faith to triumph over tragedy, one step at a time. It is based on the true story of the author's grandmother. This is the newly re-edited version.

The "volcanically sexy" (USA Today) bestseller about a widow and her daughter who take a young couple into their home in 1920s London.

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned; the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa--a large, silent house now bereft of brothers, husband, and even servants--life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the "clerk class," the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances's life--or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize three times, Sarah Waters has earned a reputation as one of our greatest writers of historical fiction.

Revisit the timeless classic in this graphic retelling of Tolstoy's celebrated 1869 novel.

In this beautifully rendered graphic adaptation, both fans and newcomers alike will be immersed in the world of War and Peace, one of the most celebrated novels of all time, about the misadventures of about the misadventures of Pierre Bezúkhov, Natásha and Ilyá Rostóv, and company during the Napoleonic era of Russia.

With richly detailed settings re-creating the villas and ballrooms of the 19th century, character design based on the real-life inspirations for the figures in the book, and visual depictions of elements from the original text, War and Peace: The Graphic Novel brings Tolstoy's masterpiece to life as never before.

Including forewords from Russian literature experts from the Leo Tolstoy library, this graphic adaptation distills the major plotlines and characters of the sprawling epic for readers to experience this classic novel in a whole new way.

"Tóibín is at his lyrical best in this beautiful and daring work" (The New York Times Book Review) that portrays Mary as a solitary older woman still seeking to understand the events that become the narrative of the New Testament and the foundation of Christianity--shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize.

In the ancient town of Ephesus, Mary lives alone, years after her son's crucifixion. She has no interest in collaborating with the authors of the Gospel, who are her keepers. She does not agree that her son is the Son of God; nor that his death was "worth it"; nor that the "group of misfits he gathered around him, men who could not look a woman in the eye," were holy disciples.

Mary judges herself ruthlessly (she did not stay at the foot of the cross until her son died--she fled, to save herself), and her judgment of others is equally harsh. This woman whom we know from centuries of paintings and scripture as the docile, loving, silent, long-suffering, obedient, worshipful mother of Christ becomes a tragic heroine with the relentless eloquence of Electra or Medea or Antigone. Tóibín's tour de force of imagination and language is a portrait so vivid and convincing that our image of Mary will be forever transformed.

After learning of her family's ties to the slaveholding South, Sylvia Compson scours her attic for clues and discovers a window into the world of her ancestors: the memoir of her great-grandfather's spinster sister,

Gerda Bergstrom. Gerda's memoir chronicles the founding of Elm Creek Manor and the tumultuous years when Hans, Anneke, and Gerda Bergstrom sheltered fugitive slaves within its walls, using quilts as a signal of sanctuary. But little did the staunchly abolitionist Gerda know that a traitor was among them, placing the Bergstroms in grave danger and leading to family discord, betrayal, and a secret held for generations.

With the help of the Elm Creek Quilters and clues hidden within antique quilts discovered in the manor's attic, Sylvia stitches together the pieces of her past and decodes the true nature of the Bergstrom legacy.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and "queen of royal fiction" (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory--a dazzling new novel about the intriguing, romantic, and maddening Mary, Queen of Scots.

Fleeing violent rebellions in Scotland, Mary looks to Queen Elizabeth of England for sanctuary. Though promised protection, Mary, perceived as a serious threat to the English crown, is soon imprisoned by her former friend as a "guest" in the house of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his indomitable wife, Bess of Hardwick. The newly married couple welcomes the condemned queen into their home, certain that serving as her hosts and jailers will bring them an advantage in the cutthroat world of the Elizabethan court.

To their horror, they grow to realize that the task will bankrupt their estate and lose them what little favor they've managed to gain as their home becomes the epicenter of intrigue and rebellion against Queen Elizabeth. And Mary is not as hopeless as she appears, manipulating the earl and spinning her own web of treachery and deceit, as she sharpens her weapons to reclaim her Scottish throne--and to take over Queen Elizabeth's of England.

"Splendid" --New York Times
"Mind-bending." --Wall Street Journal
"Brilliantly original. The best new novel I've read this year." --Salman Rushdie

A daring, kaleidoscopic novel about the clash of empires and ideas, told through a tennis match in the sixteenth century between the radical Italian artist Caravaggio and the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo, played with a ball made from the hair of the beheaded Anne Boleyn.

The poet and the artist battle it out in Rome before a crowd that includes Galileo, a Mary Magdalene, and a generation of popes who would throw the world into flames. In England, Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII execute Anne Boleyn, and her crafty executioner transforms her legendary locks into those most-sought-after tennis balls. Across the ocean in Mexico, the last Aztec emperors play their own games, as the conquistador Hernán Cortés and his Mayan translator and lover, La Malinche, scheme and conquer, fight and f**k, not knowing that their domestic comedy will change the course of history. In a remote Mexican colony a bishop reads Thomas More's Utopia and thinks that it's a manual instead of a parody. And in today's New York City, a man searches for answers to impossible questions, for a book that is both an archive and an oracle.

Álvaro Enrigue's mind-bending story features assassinations and executions, hallucinogenic mushrooms, bawdy criminals, carnal liaisons and papal schemes, artistic and religious revolutions, love and war. A blazingly original voice and a postmodern visionary, Enrigue tells the grand adventure of the dawn of the modern era, breaking down traditions and upending expectations, in this bold, powerful gut-punch of a novel.

Game, set, match.

"Sudden Death is the best kind of puzzle, its elements so esoteric and wildly funny that readers will race through the book, wondering how Álvaro Enrigue will be able to pull a novel out of such an astonishing ball of string. But Enrigue absolutely does; and with brilliance and clarity and emotional warmth all the more powerful for its surreptitiousness."
--Lauren Groff, New York Times-bestselling author of Fates and Furies

"Engrossing... rich with Latin and European history." --The New Yorker

"[A] bawdy, often profane, sprawling, ambitious book that is as engaging as it is challenging." --Vogue

In this sweeping novel, James A. Michener chronicles eight tumultuous centuries as three Polish families live out their destinies. The Counts Lubonski, the petty nobles Bukowksi, and the peasants Buk are at some times fiercely united, at others tragically divided. With an inspiring tradition of resistance to brutal invaders, from the barbarians to the Nazis, and a heritage of pride that burns through eras of romantic passion and courageous solidarity, their common story reaches a breathtaking culmination in the historic showdown between the ruthless Communists and rebellious farmers of the modern age. Like the heroic land that is its subject, Poland teems with vivid events, unforgettable characters, and the unfolding drama of an entire nation.

Praise for Poland

"Engrossing . . . a page-turner in the grand Michener tradition."--The Washington Post

"A Michener epic is far more than a bedtime reader, it's an experience. Poland is a monumental effort, a magnificent guide to a better understanding of the country's tribulations."--Chicago Tribune

"Stunning . . . an unmatched overview of Polish history . . . The families themselves come very much alive, and through them, Poland itself."--USA Today

"A titanic documentary novel."--The Wall Street Journal

A "vivid and entertaining" (Chicago Tribune) tale about the tangled history of two families, from the author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick)

"Zesty, imaginative . . . a Turkish version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." --USA Today

As an Armenian American living in San Francisco, Armanoush feels like part of her identity is missing and that she must make a journey back to the past, to Turkey, in order to start living her life. Asya is a nineteen-year-old woman living in an extended all-female household in Istanbul who loves Jonny Cash and the French existentialists. The Bastard of Istanbul tells the story of their two families--and a secret connection linking them to a violent event in the history of their homeland. Filed with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it, and about Turkey itself.

From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia comes a "genuinely surprising whodunit" (USA Today) that tantalizingly reimagines a scandalous murder mystery that rocked the nation.

One summer night in 1930, Judge Joseph Crater steps into a New York City cab and is never heard from again. Behind this great man are three women, each with her own tale to tell: Stella, his fashionable wife, the picture of propriety; Maria, their steadfast maid, indebted to the judge; and Ritzi, his showgirl mistress, willing to seize any chance to break out of the chorus line.

As the twisted truth emerges, Ariel Lawhon's wickedly entertaining debut mystery transports us into the smoky jazz clubs, the seedy backstage dressing rooms, and the shadowy streets beneath the Art Deco skyline.

Don't miss Ariel Lawhon's new book, The Frozen River!

Inspired by the incredible true story of Josephine Baker's role in the French Resistance, this is a heart-wrenching, unforgettable tale of the strength of the human spirit in the darkest days of World War II.

In the City of Light, one woman will stand against darkness.

Paris, 1941. With Nazi occupation imminent, journalist Elodie Mitchell plans to return home to Chicago. But an unexpected invitation to a Josephine Baker show changes everything.

Mistaken for the star, Elodie is whisked backstage, where she uncovers an underground resistance movement hidden beneath the glitz and glamour.

Drawn into a whisper network of spies, Elodie accepts a perilous mission: to go undercover as Josephine's cousin and gather vital intelligence.

In a world on the edge of darkness, Elodie must summon unwavering courage to protect her beloved adopted city and its people - and getting caught is not an option.

A wartime epic about love, bravery and fighting against prejudice in all its forms, perfect for fans of Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict and Pam Jenoff.

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Readers adore Code Name Butterfly:

'A WWII story with a difference...' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'The setting and atmosphere is stellar!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I felt like I was in Paris! Susberry's vivid descriptions were phenomenal.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I've read many books with this setting, but none as wonderfully immersive as this one.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Could not recommend it more! Have never read a book so fast!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Draws the reader in from the first page and doesn't let go. Please pick it up! It won't disappoint.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'An interesting, well researched and well written book. An excellent read.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A complex story about more than just WWII in France or Josephine Baker.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'It's about family, racism, and courage. I loved it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Some secrets are never meant to see the light of day.

Miss Lizette Kent's life is in shambles. Not only did her mother just pass away, but she has been left without the means to provide for herself. While she is contemplating her future, she encounters an unexpected and vexing man: Tristan Westcott, a man that mistakenly seems to believe that she is the daughter of an earl, despite her insistence that she is not.

Tristan does not have time for games, but Lady Lizette is playing a maddening one with him. Lord Ashington assigned him to retrieve his granddaughter so that she may take her rightful place in Society. When their first meeting goes awry, he is forced to wait until she accepts the truth and allows him to escort her to London.

As two proud hearts negotiate a ceasefire, they reluctantly discover that they enjoy the other's company and begin to rely on one another. But as truths are unraveled, Lizette realizes that her future- and her heart- are in danger of being shattered.

Inland is a work which gathers in emotional power as it moves across the grasslands of its narrator's imagination--from Szolnok County on the great plains of Hungary where a man writes in the library of his manor house, to the Institute of Prairie Studies in Tripp County, South Dakota, where the editor of the journal Hinterland receives his writing, to the narrator's own native district in Melbourne County, between Moonee Ponds and the Merri, where he recalls the constant displacements of his childhood. "No thing in the world is one thing," he declares; "some places are many more than one place." These overlapping worlds are bound by recurring motifs--fish pond, fig-tree, child-woman, the colours white, red and green--and by deep feelings of intimacy and betrayal, which are brought to full expression as the book moves to its close.